October is the month of horror! Hardcore fans enjoy this month to watch horror movies. For years critics usually were harsh on most horror films until recent years. We live in a new era of horror, we just had to wade through the found footage, remakes, cash grabs, and the torture genre that dominated the 2000’s and part of the 2010s.
Now older films are considered classics, the new films are original and have introduced new generations to horror. (Hereditary, Get Out, Don’t breathe, A Quiet Place) Clever films with much appreciation. All of those films are worthy to be watched during October but I am going to introduce a list of 31 films. They have a wide range in the genre with a few surprises. This is NOT a list of my favorite horror films but they are littered through out it. I also understand my opinion on horror films can be controversial at times, so just go with it!
What’s your favorite scary movie?………..Do not enter during the night, instead stay in the cabin in the woods and allow me to be Elvira or Vampira as I send you on this journey….and along the way, we will ask Gurillermo Del Toro why he had a woman fall in love with the Creature from the Black Lagoon?
31. 30 Days of Night
This is probably one of the most creative ideas for vampires. Since Alaska has a period where it is 30 days of no sunlight it would be the perfect hunting ground for vampires. It is a bloody good time!
30. The Lighthouse
Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play Lighthouse workers who fall victim to alcoholism, terrible conditions, and possibly a curse. The elements of horror are scattered throughout, making it a mixed genre all for itself. Doses of psychological, and cosmic just to give it some texture! The undertone is the lead actors dealing with their own identity. and it is done in a clever way. Great performances by both leads and the mermaid stuff will stick with me for awhile! That is just my take on it, after viewing you can look into all the videos people have made to break this movie down, but really its to your own opinion. This movie is not for everyone, if your looking for a simple horror film then I say don’t bother, however if you like movies to make you think then give it a try!
29. The Exorcist III
Alright, you will come to notice that I did not include The Exorcist at all on this list. Why? Well to any horror lovers, we all have seen it 30 times, and anyone who tiptoes into horror usual see this or The Shining and they stay far away after that. To everyone who has seen the original, what about the third one? The prequel and the sequel are terrible, but the third one that seems ignored is golden. The Exorcist was a book and a sequel book was written (Legion) . The Heretic (Sequel) was a cash grab sequel that should be avoided. Watch the true sequel! Cameo by the Joker! and one of the scariest jumps I have ever had in cinema. Is it as good as the first one? No. However, it deserves some love!
28. Son of Frankenstein
Another 3rd in a series! This one is my favorite of the Universal Monsters from the early days of horror! Ignored more often because of The Bride of Frankenstein, but this one is worthy to watch as it is the plot they based Young Frankenstein off of!
27. Christine
TYLER THIS ABOUT A KILLER CAR AND THAT IS FUCKING DUMB! No, it is more than just that. I could analyze this movie all day, but I will just leave this for you….John Carpenter, doing a film adaptation of a Stephen King book. Gold!
26. Trick R Treat
If you are not big on horror but want to watch something on Halloween, I suggest this one. It is not overall scary and has some comedy. It is tame and is coated in layers of Halloween. It is perfect for the season!
25. Prince of Darkness
The infamous John Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy! A true fanboy such as myself would include this! WATCH ALL 3! (The Thing, Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness)
24. Day of the Dead
Another 3rd! In the George A. Romero original zombie films this is the one ignored. Yeah the first two were great but none of them had Captain Rhodes! The Baddest bad guy in any zombie movie! Then end of his arc really stuck with me!
23. Hush
It is about a deaf woman who is being stocked by a killer in a mask! Quite the white knuckle ride!
22. Dog Soldiers
One of the best Werewolf movie ever done!
21. Aliens Director’s Cut
People hate this movie and James Cameron, or just fun in general. I bet most of them NEVER saw the original vision of this movie. The Director’s cut which both Cameron and Sigourney Weaver will tell you is the real movie. It fills the gaps adding better story and just the most horror, scfi, action movie you will ever see!
20. Carnival of Souls
This is one of my personal favorites. Early 60’s film and if there was ever a movie that could use a remake I would still say no, but I would completely understand! It is a great older movie that deserves more love!
19. In the Mouth of Madness
Another movie in the John Carpenter Apocalypse Trilogy! This movie is getting a lot more love than it did back in the 90’s. It one of the better Lovecraft like films to watch!
18. Krampus
It took a few views for me to actually appreciate this movie more. Horror Christmas movie anyone?
17. Creep
Mark Duplass plays a man who is terminally ill and hires someone to film him as he teaches his unborn child life lessons. Nothing is as it seems and the movie gets more suspenseful as Mark gets even more creepy!
16. Never Hike Alone
With the Friday the 13th franchise put on hold over a nasty rights battle, a little filmmaker made a fan made film, and it is better than most of the franchise.
15. The Ritual
A few friends pay respects to one of their friends as they hike through Sweden. One get injured, they go off the trail cross through a wooded forest. Never take short cuts!
14. Let the Right One In
Another clever vampire film. A tormented little boy befriends a vampire girl. It is a foreign film with subtitles, but the story is interesting and creative. If you hate reading subtitles and want more gore then watch Let Me In the American remake. They are nearly the same!
13. The Thing
Another from the John Carpenter Apocalypse Trilogy! My personal favorite of the 3. A movie ignored during its release back in the 80’s but is now considered one of the greatest horror flicks of all time. I agree.
12. A Nightmare on Elm Street
I lied on this one….Sure the first one, but if you want humor and better deaths then try the third one Dream Warriors and much like The Exorcist franchise the true sequel is the third one. The second Nightmare is not the worst film but it is bad compared to Dream Warriors, however I say that but 2 has been appreciated in recent years. You should look why the sequel is appreciated! but if you want Wes Craven being meta before Scream then try Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. It is not the most popular but I found the plot clever, Freddy makeup is better,
11. The Fly
The Vincent Price classic is a fun film but the 80’s remake with Jeff Goldblum is a body horror monster flick. Its disgusting fun! A scientist turning into a fly doesn’t really sound cool on paper, but trust me it is great!
10. Night of the Living Dead
A zombie movie, and it is one of the most important movies in cinema history! The first in horror for an African American actor to be the hero. During a time period where movies would only pick black actors to portray the “black” character in one scene. Romero always claimed he wasn’t making a statement but looking at society in that time it really seems like he did. I still like Day of the Dead better, but the original is great as well!
9. Carrie
Another Stephen King adaptation. About a crazy religious mother abusing her already bullied daughter. She realizes she has powers (kids being psychic is common in Stephen King’s verse) and with a humiliating and bloody climax. It is great!
8. Child’s Play 2
Scared of dolls? What if it was a slasher? In these days we want possession demon dolls (Annabelle) I do agree with that statement, but we can’t forget Chucky! This is the best one too!
7. Psycho (Not Really)
Look, it is great, and Hitchcock was a genius, but this movie is included on every list so I am going to pick a under rated horror flick……City of the Dead/ Horror Hotel. It predates Psycho, is black and white with a young Christopher Lee in it! It deals with witches! The dual titles is based on which country it played in.
6. Scream
Bow to the king! Greatest slasher movie of all time. A perfect parody of the slasher genre and horror films! The little details that Wes Craven littered over this film is amazing! I discover new Easter eggs after every watch!
5. Jaws
Stephen Spielberg tried making a B movie and instead we have cinema treasure. Great performances and a Shark scene that scared me so much as a kid! Who can forget the score when the shark is nearby!?
4. Halloween
The movie that made slashers what they became! It really highlights the rules of how to survive a horror movie. NO SEX, NO DRUGS, NO DRINKING and the virgin white girl survives! Carpenter’s score on the film is haunting and a masterpiece! This franchise has a few surprising and good sequels….(4. 5. H20, and 2018) I hate the remake though. Never remake a classic…….except….
3. Evil Dead
I love Evil Dead I and II! Watch them, but this mostly about the remake! One of the best remake horror Films! It brings the creep factor back that Rami tried to do in the first one. It was scary, dark, bloody, and pretty much everything you expect in horror!
2. The Witch
This movie was folklore, art, and some good ole witch horror! Audiences didn’t really get it but critics got it. It took me a couple viewing to really see the masterpiece in it!
- Silence of the Lambs
Maybe a psychological thriller, but the horror is scattered through it. I mean shaving the skins off women? Cannibalism? How Dr. Lecter escapes? Yeah it is horror!
Honestly I could pick a hundred more. The many Stephen King adaptions, Maybe more ghost and paranormal franchises (The Conjuring, Insidious) Maybe some of the Hammer Horror movies, The list of movies keeps coming to me, The Shining, It Follows, The Devil’s Rejects, American Werewolf in London, Predator, Event Horizon, Saw, House on Haunted Hill!
So maybe I will make another list at a later date, but until then here is a list of the horror movies to avoid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DO NOT WATCH!
- Friday the 13th: A new Beginning
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
- Tusk
- Lords of Salem
- I Spit on your Grave
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
- Alien 3
Of course I am not expert! Horror is what you really make it. Just get in the spirit for Halloween!
In The Spider's Web 